Magic of poetry at Shankar Shad Mushaira

The legacy of two poetic legends Shankar Lall ‘Shankar’ and Murli Dhar ‘Shad’ was celebrated at the 51st edition of the Shankar Shad Mushaira at Modern School, Barakhamba Road last week. Both of these legends were patrons of Urdu Poetry and well-known for their contribution to the social, educational and cultural life of Delhi. With poets participating from America, Pakistan and India, the 51st Shankar Shad Mushaira, organised by Shankar Lall Murli Dhar Society celebrated the literary background shared between neighbours with an aim to spread the message of love and peace.

The stage was set for an enthralling evening with renowned names from the field of literature and poetry with stalwarts such as Pirzada Qasim (Karachi), Kishwar Naheed (Islamabad), Aziz Nabeel (Doha Qatar), Dr. Abdullah (U.S.) and Farhat Shahzad (U.S.) along with poets from India; Javed Akhtar (Mumbai), Anwar Jalalpuri (Lucknow), Waseem Barelvi (Bareilly), Popular Meeruthi (Meerut), Iqbal Ashhar (Delhi), Gauhar Raza (Delhi), Iffat Zarrin (Delhi), Nawaz Deobandi (Deoband), Kunwar Ranjit Chauhan (Delhi) and Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad (Lucknow) to recite their beautiful creations. After lighting the Shama (traditional lamp), the poet and host Anwar Jalalpuri sahib introduced the mushaira to the audience followed by a welcome address by Salman Khurshid, chief guest for the evening.

The Shankar Shad Mushaira has been enriched with the compositions of legendry poets like Josh Malihabadi, Jigar Moradabadi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar Jafri and a host of other eminent poets over the years.

Sharing his experience, Farhat Shahzad said; “I’m very happy to be a part of this fest, a proud moment for any poet to be a part of Shankar Shad Mushaira, as this is not just an event but an effort to spread a message of friendship, love and peace.”

Javed Akhtar sahib said, “I have heard about Shankar Shad Mushaira during my school and college days. One of the greatest and most beautiful aspects of this event is that these are being organized to promote the language, love for poetry and to keep the tradition intact. Usually, I don’t like to go to Mushaira’s, but this is one event I look forward to participate in, whenever possible. I feel honored to be a part of this. Another fact I love about the Shankar Shad Mushaira is that one gets to meet poets of great caliber and hear even better poetry, which itself is very rare.”

Disclaimer: This is the official press release of the 51st Shankar Shad Mushaira.